Lawyer: Greed Drove Nanny, Son

June 15, 1999|By NICOLE STERGHOS BROCHU Staff Writer

She was like a member of the family, a nanny for six years to the Spoors' three children, a trusted friend who spent the holidays feasting at their table and even tagged along on an ocean-cruise vacation.

But it was greed that broke that bond between Lockie Bryant, 39, and her employers, a prosecutor told jurors on Monday.

On Sept. 23, as Hurricane Georges threatened to hit South Florida, Bryant sent her son, Maurice, 18, and another man to the Spoors' Wellington home, armed with recently purchased paintball guns, prosecutor Al Johnson said.

Their goal, Johnson said, was to steal $14,000 cash and $20,000 in jewelry, which he said Bryant knew the Spoors kept in a safe in a bedroom closet. Worried about the hurricane, Mark Spoor had just withdrawn enough money to make payroll at his electric business, and he left the house early to check on things at work.

Concealed in masks and covered by gloves, Maurice Bryant and Steven Delly, then 22, entered the house on Cessna Way using the keys Lockie Bryant had given them, Johnson said. The two men dragged the couple's 13-year-old daughter from her bed, ripping off her clothes and restraining her in duct tape, he said.

Her mother, Lynn Spoor, also was pulled from her bed and ordered to open the safe. Inside, Johnson said, Bryant and Delly found cash, jewelry and a TEC-9 semiautomatic weapon with 30-round ammunition clips.

"This morning was a morning of terror, absolute terror," Johnson told the jury, which this week will weigh Maurice Bryant's fate. "There they were in the dark, with two persons dragging them out of their beds, not knowing what would happen to them."

Before they left with their cache, Johnson told the jury, Maurice Bryant, who also worked for Spoor at his electric business, beat Lynn Spoor in the face with the gun and pulled a ring off her finger. The two men then drove away in Spoor's car, according to reports.

When he was caught two months later, Maurice Bryant had Lynn Spoor's ring and police found the TEC-9 in his apartment.

Both Bryants -- charged with seven felony counts, including armed kidnapping, burglary and robbery -- face prison if convicted. Prosecutors expect the case against Maurice Bryant to be decided by Wednesday or Thursday. Lockie Bryant's case has not been set for trial.

Delly is scheduled to be the state's key witness. After pleading guilty earlier this year, Delly was sentenced to 12 years in prison and will testify against both Bryants.

"This is a story of a classic inside job," Johnson told the jury.

But Maurice Bryant's attorney, Jack Fleischman, cautioned jurors to listen to all the evidence. He predicted they will find enough reasonable doubt to acquit his client.

Nicole Sterghos Brochu can be reached at nbrochu@sun-sentinel.com or 561-832-2894.